Day 288...Bursting Color All Around

BURSTING COLOR ALL AROUND

The colors are near their absolute peak in the Twin Cities right now.  When I was driving home today, I noticed the bursting colors are all around.  It is supposed to be a really great day out tomorrow as far as weather, so I'm most definitely going to try to utilize my lunch hour to make the most of getting some fall colors in. 

I want to try to find things that aren't totally cliche in fall color photos, but not sure how.  We'll see what I come up with.  I'm also heading up north this weekend, and I think it's past peak there, but we'll see what the weekend brings me.  

Day 287...Are Your Ducks in a Row?

ARE YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW?

Watching ducks is so cute.  I love their oranges little floppy feet.  When you see them standing on something, like this log, their feet just pop out at you.  And if you watch them in the water when they're trying to feed, they pop their little rears out of the water and "moon" you.  They're just funny little creatures.  

The water fowl are getting ready to migrate, and in this lake, the ducks and geese were mingling in great crowds all over the lake and flying over head everywhere.  I liked how the colors of these cuties is reflected in the bright green water.

Day 286...Autumn RIP

Autumn RIP

Why are cemeteries one or the more beautiful places in autumn?  Seriously?  My mom went driving into the cemetery today to see the gorgeous foliage.  I'm really not that enamored with cemeteries in general, but they're just so beautiful in fall and winter.  

I think there's something kind of cool about having a place to go to meditate over your lost ones.  My dad isn't buried anywhere because he gave his body to science.  We'll get ashes back eventually, but he wants to be laid to rest in Canada, so I won't really have a place like this to go visit him.  But it's okay.  

This cemetery had some really old headstones that were weathered in a super cool looking way and against the backdrop of the fall colors. 

Day 285...State Tourney Time

STATE TOURNEY TIME

Our girls earned their way to the fall soccer state tournament which took place in Rochester, MN this weekend.  I had to be down there to pick Tiana up at 8:30 a.m. so I left Blaine at 7:00 a.m.  The above photo is what I woke up to.  It was a magnificent morning.  The drive to Rochester was incredible and if I wasn't on a deadline, it would have taken me twice as long to drive down because I would have been stopping ever mile while the sun rose through the fog and mist.  
But the I arrived and the tournament started and I was in sport mode.  

Tiana started the tournament off scoring the first goal of game one and the team went on to win that game.  

They tied the second game with no score between the two teams and then we moved on to the next day.  

There was a three way tie between the teams that were being determined to play up against us and they had to have a three way shootout before the championship game began.  Tiana assisted with Lexi to help Jen score the first goal of game three.

White Bear Lake tied it up after a few minutes, but Blaine dominated the whole game, and we ended up taking the championship by winning 3-1!  It was a nail biter and so much fun.  So proud of my girl and all of her fabulous hard working teammates.

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Day 284...Fall Colors on the Prairie

FALL COLORS ON THE PRAIRIE

I don't hunt.  I'm not opposed to hunting necessarily, but I just wasn't raised around people who do it.  I have no idea what these guys are hunting for, but I assume if I knew something about hunting, I could determine what they're hunting for based on the fact they're wearing blaze orange rather than camouflage.  

I don't know why I decided that this photo would be the one of the day.  I was actually out searching for farmland to photograph and these guys caught my eye, and I thought this was a cool scene.  I love the different shades of muted yellows with the bright orange spot of the hunters.  

While out chasing around fall foliage, I decided that the colors always just seem better in person and when you photograph them you just can't really do them justice.

Day 283...Land of 10,000 Lakes and Beautiful Skies

LAND OF 10,000 LAKES AND BEAUTIFUL SKIES

I don't know why I keep doing these landscapes.  I'm not a landscape photographer.  But when I'm out and about on gorgeous fall evenings, I just want to spend all my time photographing the beautiful surroundings I'm in.  I am absolutely loving this fall. 

Right now, the weather is great, and I know soon I'm going to be freezing to death.  So I just wander around gazing at all the beautiful colors of the leaves, the changing grasses, the calm water of the lakes, the birds getting ready for migration, and the skies with the sun getting farther away from us.  

Landscapes just seem inevitable.  

I love Minnesota.  (at least for a few more weeks)

Day 282...The Leaves are Falling

THE LEAVES ARE FALLING

On all the photography pages on Facebook, I have friends "up north."  So I've been seeing many photos of the leaves changing colors already.  But in the Twin Cities, it just hasn't quite hit full on yet.  

But tonight I was doing a portrait session, and there were quite a few variations of yellow.  On the way home, I just day dreamed about during my drive and noticed that there were some worthy trees and shots.  

So what are the normal things you think of when it's fall?  Bright red maple leaves, dark orange oak leaves, purple red sumac, the beyond colored leaves that have turned brown and dry.  And when they all fall to the ground, they start to smell musty and they crunch when you walk on them.  

That's what this photo made me think of, just kicking the leaves as you walk down the street, and smelling the beautiful aroma of autumn.